The Birdcages

Revealing a little-known chapter in the history of Victoria, British Columbia, The Birdcages, the province’s first legislative buildings, were built 1859-1864, the formative, tumultuous time of the Gold Rushes. Constructed on the site of the present Legislature, they were built amid controversy and derided for their style. The brainchild of Governor James Douglas, they resembled, according to journalist/politician Amor de Cosmos, “something between a Dutch toy and a Chinese pagoda.” Readers will discover how civil servants and politicians felt about them as a workplace and what the general public thought about them as civic architecture. The career of their designer, the mysterious Hermann Otto Tiedemann, one of Victoria’s vivid early “characters,” is recounted as are the contributions of local contractors and tradesmen. The site of events of national importance until their demise in 1898, the Birdcages reflected the history, character, and heritage of Victoria and played an important role in the developing political traditions of the province and the young Dominion of Canada. A place for political demonstrations and community celebrations, the House of Assembly was where the MLAs debated joining Confederation, granting the vote to women, and excluding Asian immigrants. Based on personal memoirs and letters, government documents, photographs and plans, this book will interest both students and adults, history buffs and professional historians.

In the spirit of Lisa Jewell and Kate Morton, an emotional mystery set in the rugged remote landscape of north Cornwall full of dark secrets and twists, about three unusual sisters forced to confront the past. Some secrets need to be set free… When half-sisters Kat, Flora, and Lauren are unexpectedly summoned to Rock Point, their wild and remote Cornish summer home, it's not a welcome invitation. They haven't been back since that fateful summer twenty years ago—a summer they're desperate to forget. But when they arrive, it's clear they're not alone. Someone is lurking in the shadows, watching their every move. Someone who remembers exactly what they did... Will the sisters be able to protect the dark past of Rock Point? Or are some secrets too powerful to remain under lock and key?

In the spirit of Lisa Jewell and Kate Morton, an emotional mystery set in the rugged remote landscape of north Cornwall full of dark secrets and twists, about three unusual sisters forced to confront the past. Some secrets need to be set free… When half-sisters Kat, Flora, and Lauren are unexpectedly summoned to Rock Point, their wild and remote Cornish summer home, it's not a welcome invitation. They haven't been back since that fateful summer twenty years ago—a summer they're desperate to forget. But when they arrive, it's clear they're not alone. Someone is lurking in the shadows, watching their every move. Someone who remembers exactly what they did... Will the sisters be able to protect the dark past of Rock Point? Or are some secrets too powerful to remain under lock and key?

Everyone is talking about this darkly gripping story of hidden secrets, as seen on BBC2 Between the Covers Book Club. 'A gripping, intelligent, utterly-of-the-moment thriller' EMMA STONEX 'A captivating story of women's power, love and secrets' LARA PRESCOTT 'Compelling, atmospheric. It's BRILLIANT' MARIAN KEYES 'Fascinating, atmospheric, utterly gripping' LIZ HYDER 'Demands to be devoured in one sitting' GLAMOUR 'A gripping and moving debut' HARLAN COBEN 'Magnificent' CHARLOTTE PHILBY 'Spellbinding' JANE SHEMLIT 'Darkly compelling' STYLIST 'Richly imagined' THE TIMES _________ She's beautiful and beguiling... but can you trust her? Young London lawyer Laura flies to her parents' homeland for the most important defence case of her life. On trial is Marija Popa, the beautiful widow of a murdered dictator, who created fear and division in his impoverished Eastern Bloc country, hiding untold riches for himself and his family. For Laura, the case is an opportunity to make sense of her broken childhood and her distant relationship with her mother, who will not speak about her old life under the regime. But Laura is distracted by the enigmatic Marija, who claims she knew nothing of her husband's dark affairs. As Laura is led deeper into her investigation of the past, she realises that to uncover the truth, she must draw closer to the dictator's wife. But does danger lie there...? ** Coming soon from Freya Berry - THE BIRDCAGE LIBRARY ** __________ DISCOVER YOUR NEW OBSESSION... 'The ending left me breathless' LARA PRESCOTT 'Atmospheric, claustrophobic and so elegantly written' ELLERY LLOYD 'Engrossing, evocative, chillingly claustrophobic. Wonderfully written' KAREN HAMILTON 'A darkly atmospheric, rich, compulsive and page-turning read' KATE HAMER 'A masterful portrait of a woman who is both devil and angel. Like the real-life dictator's wives that inspired her, she's unforgettable' ANIKA SCOTT 'A remarkable new talent' ANTHONY HOROWITZ 'Sumptuously written... One of the most compelling literary debuts of the year' GLAMOUR 'One of the most original debuts I have read' DAISY GOODWIN 'Excellent. Immersive with strong characterisation and atmosphere' HARRIET TYCE

Revolutionary turmoil in France threatens to cross the English border—and tear apart an increasingly tense marriage—in this “brilliant” gothic thriller (Publishers Weekly, starred review). It is 1792, and Europe is seized by political unrest. In England, Lizzie Fawkes has grown up among Radicals who’ve followed the French Revolution with eager optimism. But Lizzie has recently married John Diner Tredevant, a developer who is heavily invested in Bristol’s housing boom, and he has everything to lose from social upheaval and the prospect of war. As the strain of financial setbacks and the secrets of his past converge upon him, his grip on what he considers his rightful property—including Lizzie—only grows tighter...From an Orange Prize winner and Whitbread Award finalist, this is a novel with a “charged radiance” (The New York Times) that explores romanticism and disillusionment, terror and love, and the dangerous lines between them. “Dunmore knows how to let a narrative move like an arrow in flight...A man rows from Bristol to a glade where he has left his dead wife overnight. He must bury her fast, where no one will find her. From the start, Birdcage Walk has the command of a thriller as we keep company with John Diner Tredevant, an 18th-century property developer building a magnificent terrace in Clifton, high above the Avon Gorge. Lizzie, his second wife, does not know the details of what happened to his first. Nor do we know as much as we might suppose...The novel’s cast is marvelous and vivid.”—The Guardian “Explores the impact of the French Revolution on 1790s England within the context of a gothic romance set in Bristol...[a] magnificently complex villain.”—Kirkus Reviews

This book vividly describes how China’s rise in the early 2000s led to rising profits and declining labor income everywhere, ultimately resulting in the global financial crisis. Under Deng Xiaoping’s policy of ‘reform and opening up’ in the 1980s, China quickly became the world’s factory floor...but powerful political leaders envisioned a world in which the market economy would be trapped within the confines of a planned economy. With China’s admission into the World Trade Organization in 2001, almost a billion people joined the global workforce, driving down the real wages of blue- and white-collar workers in the US and Europe while also lowering interest rates, which fueled housing bubbles and destabilized the financial sector. This book explores China’s significant influence on western economies by focusing on the links between the labor market, corporate profits, and interest rates, using Arthur Lewis's framework for economic growth with unlimited supplies of labor to argue that by 2010 the world economy – and political situations – had been set back almost one hundred years.